Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will do my best. The Minister is welcome to the House and, like others, I want to wish him well in his new role. I congratulate him.

I am glad that we have set time aside to talk about this important issue. The position of women in Irish society has transformed in recent decades. Irish women have fought for, and won, important battles that have facilitated greater gender equality but there is an important caveat to that: women can never be truly equal when all levels of society, at home, at work and elsewhere, are subject to the risk of male violence. Our aspiration should be the creation of a truly feminist republic, and that means there must be zero tolerance of domestic violence and violence against women.

I have to give credit to the Minister and his Department, to the Minister without Portfolio, Deputy McEntee, and the Government in general for advancing a number of laws that aim to improve the position of women in society and provide them with greater protections against violence. That is fantastic and these include the sections of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 covering domestic violence leave and the sections of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 covering non-fatal strangulation, harassment and stalking. These are crucially important laws and those involved in advancing them should be proud. I have to highlight the submission made regarding the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill by Women's Aid and the Government's proposed rate of pay for workers taking domestic violence leave at 70%. Women who are experiencing domestic violence often struggle to leave because they lack financial independence and when women leave they often experience an increase in expenses as they find new accommodation and incur costs from counselling and other medical needs. There are also safety and privacy concerns raised by a lower rate of pay. The most discreet and dignified approach is to create a typical payslip and it is wrong to reduce the income of people when their need is most acute. This needs to be revisited.

I have to return to the topic I raised in this Chamber yesterday, namely the violence experienced by healthcare workers. What we heard yesterday at the Joint Committee on Health was shocking. According to data from the Health and Safety Authority, HSE staff made 4,796 reports of physical, verbal or sexual assaults in the workplace in 2021. These are staggering figures. The same data shows that there were only 446 inspections.The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation noted in its briefing document for the health committee yesterday that this is a women's rights issue as well as a workers' rights issue given that 63% of assaults in the health services are perpetrated against nurses and midwives, professions which are 95% female. The failure to safeguard healthcare workers from violence constitutes a failure to adhere to our obligations under the Istanbul Convention, which sets out the responsibility of member states to prevent domestic violence and violence against women. Female healthcare workers are disproportionately at risk because of structural flaws in our healthcare system, including the minimal provision of security. However, they are also more at risk because of the pervasiveness of the violent sexism that generates violence against women. Real solutions must focus on both parts of the problem.

It is very disheartening that despite the huge social changes that have taken place in recent years, young women are still subject to gendered abuse. According to Women's Aid, 20% of young women between the ages of 18 and 25 have endured intimate partner violence. This is very distressing. Young people live lives that are highly mediated by digital culture. The Internet is plagued with misogynistic influencers, violent and degrading pornography and other content that spreads poisonous sexist ideas. Regulating such content is difficult. A far more realistic approach involves providing objective feminist and inclusive relationship and sexual education to all students. This education has to stress gender equality and make young people aware of the scope of intimate partner violence in society and ensure that LGBT young people are fully included.

As society changes, patterns and methods of abuse and control change too. Women become vulnerable in different ways. We need to be aware of how abusers can use commercially available spyware technology to monitor their partners' phone use or financial transactions. This is very important. In an increasingly cashless era, when more and more transactions are done online, we need to explore pathways for women to escape new forms of financial abuse. It is a difficult and emotionally taxing topic. I pay tribute to all of the people working at the coalface of the issue, whether they provide direct support and shelter to victims or work in healthcare and therapeutic support, or work in policy and advocacy to help shape feminist laws that protect the vulnerable from violence and control. I also commend all of the women who have taken back their lives from their abusers. It is so hard to do. I want to tell any person who is suffering right now that there is help out there. If they reach out, they will be listened to and believed. Everyone deserves to live a peaceful, safe and happy life.